Hi folks,
KuanTzeLing is a place about an hour away by bike from
Chiayi. The route there is also a delight. There are
many
lotus farms and their ponds of lotus as you near
KTL.
During summer and late summer, the lotus will be
in
bloom with their enchanting shades of pink and
white.
We went
there over the 13 and 14 of Sep 2004, or
Monday
and Tuesday. The original plan was to be there
for 3
days but I will get to that later.
KTL is
a mountainous district raising up above the
padi fields and lotus ponds. KTL has this series of
hotsprings with hot muddy water flowing out that is
channeled into hotspring resorts.
There is also a
mysterious
grotto with eternal flames from natural gas
combined
with water flowing out. With such primordial
elements
together, it is not surprising that big
temples
sprung up and dotted the mountain sides.
Being
autumn, I did not photo the lotus ponds to show
you the
dead and dying leaves and dried up mud. But
then,
the MangChow blooms at the foot of KTL can be
beautiful
as seen in the first few shots.
Tinkerbell - KuanTzeLing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlung/sets/707218/
The
temples have their own parks attached. Since they
are on side
of this mountain with changes of
elevations,
one of such park has this delightful
wooden stairways linking the park with the temple.
Tink was flown here but unfortunately, the line kept
getting
caught and snagging around the decorative
balustrades.
You see my arm automatically straighten
to give
poor Tink more line. I snagged on one and
when I
took care of that, got snagged on the next one
as the
sequences will show.
Then
some shots at that fire grotto.
We
liked hotsprings especially in cooler weather. We
would
soak a while, then get out to cool down while
reading
a book or magazine. The surroundings of the
hotsprings can be idyllic and beautiful places to
relax
in. Thinking how wonderful it would be to relax
there
with Tinkerbell, we originally wanted to stay 2
nights.
Checking
in the hotspring hotel, I got Tinkerbell
harnessed
up and she was eager to leave the room to go
to the
spa/hotspring area. The attendants were
fascinated
by Tink especially when I did some recalls
with
her. I should have just walked in. The shock of
seeing Tink normally leave people speechless
allowing
us to
get in. Then when they recovered, we were
already
in and they gracefully accept the fait
accompli.
I made
a mistake of asking if I could take Tink in and
was
told regretfully by the same attendant that I
could
not. With a heavy heart I took Tink back into
the
room, took off her harness to her great protest
and
shut her in the bathroom with her screaming away.
I
thought of ChiPeng hotspring,
another beautiful
place,
which so warmly accepted Tinkerbell being with
me.
(Which is why on the 3 Oct, we will be going to
CP and
be back in Chiayi on the 5. If I do not respond
to your
emails to me publicly or privately, try not to
be too
annoyed. I do want to but do not have the
time.)
The
former appeal of this place I being to before (but
without
Tink that time) faded. We went in like
zombies
thinking of poor Tink. In that circumstances,
we
could not enjoy ourselves with our conscience
gnawing
away at us. After an hour, my wife left to go
back to
the room. In a short while, so did I, feeling
guilty
and bad about it.
I went
back to have Her Grace immediately flying to my
shoulder.
She then flew off and landed on the other
shoulder.
I then saw two small poop, one on each
shoulder.
I felt so happy with the poop on me. As if
Tink felt obliged to chastise me in order to cheer me
up and
let me know I was forgiven.
Joy
laughed and told me Tink did one on her 30 minutes
earlier.
You
folks understand that we refused to stay there
another
night and checked out early next day.
Next
day on the way down, we saw this big temple
called
"DaSienTse" or Big Immortal Temple. Despite
its
size, the temple was a beautiful place. The
photos
may give you a better picture.
Tinkerbell - KuanTzeLing
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanlung/sets/707218/
=====
With
warmest regards
Shanlung - lackey to all below
Joy -
wife, Tinkerbell - CAG, daughter and love of my
heart
Halftail the Bimbo - beautiful sweet silly cat
Zorro -
ferret which loves parrot pellets
Bim and Zor are with other
loving families now
I will
remember them for the happy times they gave me
earlier
emails and photo links on Tink -
http://www.geocities.com/shanlung9
(erratically
and sporadically updated)
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